Inauguration Day
January 20th
The President-elect awoke very early and looked over to the other side of the bed where his wife was still asleep. She was so beautiful and with her face at rest, she looked no older than thirty. He leaned over and kissed her awake. When she opened her eyes, he said softly, “I’m more in love with you now than I’ve ever been.” She smiled and replied through a yawn, “I love you, too.” She then rolled onto her side facing him, put her arm around him and kissed him, softly at first, then with more passion. They made love.
When they were finished, they both rolled over onto their backs and he said, “Well, are you ready to become the First Lady? We have a full day and a long night ahead of us, but I am so excited that I just can’t sleep anymore.”
“You are such a typical man,” she replied, laughing. “You take advantage of a poor helpless girl, who’s a bit star struck at getting so much attention from the President-elect, then just roll over and want to leave.”
He laughed. “You are far from helpless. Come on, let’s get going. I can’t stand just lying here. I’ve got to move around. Think I’ll go to the gym and work out before I hit the shower.”
“Okay, okay. I get it.” she replied, still laughing. “Let’s go.”
An hour later they were still casually dressed and having coffee in the dining room when the President-elect said, “Okay, here’s the drill for today. We start out just over an hour from now. We walk across the street to have brunch with the Bowers at the White House. We then leave in separate cars for the inauguration, which takes place at noon. The Secret Service wants us to arrive no more than ten minutes before that. You’ll enter with President and Mrs. Bower and be seated in the front row. At precisely 11:59 the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will step to the podium. I’ll be waiting in the wings and when I see him arrive at the podium I’ll walk to meet him. He will administer the oath of office and when I’m finished, in about thirty seconds, you’ll be First Lady of the United States of America.”
“Well,” she said smiling, “that makes me important. What’s to become of you?”
Mason chuckled and said, “Uh, I’ll be married to the First Lady. I think that makes me President.”
She broadened her smile and said, “Yes, yes it does. And no one deserves it more. Oh, sweetheart, you’ve had such grand dreams of how this country could move forward and what it could accomplish. It is such a thrill for me to see that you now have a chance to make those dreams a reality.”
Mason turned serious. “Well, it won’t necessarily be easy. We have a fairly well-balanced congress. Our party has a one vote majority in the Senate and a four vote minority in the House. I won’t have a rubber stamp.”
“You don’t need a rubber stamp. Your ideas are so well thought out and they benefit all Americans. Even the other party can see the good in them. You’ll win them over with just common sense.”
Mason snorted. “Yeah, common sense. Unfortunately, sometimes politics overrules common sense. Sometimes, I think too many times, politics play so much a role in everything that achieving real progress is stymied. Each party feels they have to vote right down party lines to differentiate themselves to the voters. It seems to be more about getting re-elected than running an effective legislature.” He shook his head. “What a waste. It’ll take a lot to convince some of them that party politics and voting strictly along party lines regardless of the value of the proposition is harmful to the citizens that put us here. You know, sometimes it feels like an impossible task. But, I really think the time is right. The American public wants something different than politics as usual. I really think so,” the President-elect said, almost pleadingly.
“Okay, Pollyanna, we have to get dressed,” his wife laughed, then continued, “seriously, though, I do believe in the same things you do, and I do hope we can break down the barriers to change. I also believe that if anyone can do it, it’s you.” She smiled at him, not wanting to bring up her worries yet again.
As they stood up and went to get dressed, Mason thought, Yeah, great dreams, but I have to make it alive through today. Sure hope they catch that guy.
***
After a restless night, Grant was up by 5:00 a.m. Sam by 5:15. They met in the kitchen of their apartment where Grant had already started coffee. Both were still in PJ’s.
Grant took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, today’s the day,” he said.
“Yes. And I pray it all goes well.”
Grant nodded. “I know we’ve done all we can, but I still have an uneasy feeling. We’ve no clue what Vladimir is up to. We don’t know what’s gonna happen and, although we’ve tightened up security so that a gnat couldn’t get through, I still don’t know if it’s enough.”
“Yeah, we just don’t know how clever Vladimir is.” Sam brought her eyebrows together and pursed her lips before continuing, “You know, one thought. We’ve been concentrating so hard on the actual inauguration, have we overlooked anything regarding security for the rest of the day? As I recall, the note only had a date, not an event or a time,” she said.
“You’re right,” Grant said. “We’ve gone over the whole day many times and have spent about as much time on it as we have on the event. Secret Service has taken the lead on the walk to the White House, the trip from the White House to the event site and the procession back to the White House. They, along with FBI security, have also focused on the parties the President and First Lady will attend. There’ll be hoards of extra Secret Service men and women in and around each venue, but I’m still not happy and I don’t know what to do about it. Guess I’ll spend the rest of the morning going through all the security plans one more time.” He paused a beat before continuing, “I sure would like to get a shot at this guy. I wouldn’t miss.”
Sam said, “Well, while you concentrate on protecting the President, I’m not going to let you out of my sight. You were on that list too, remember? So covering your back is my top priority for the day.”
“Thanks. Look, if you see him, don’t immediately just blow him away. We’d really like to question him to find out why he’s doing this. We don’t even know if he has a backup in case he gets caught or killed. We could waste him and there would be another one following through on what he started. We need to question him.”
“Got it. I’ll shoot him only if I have no other choice. But if I have him in my sights and I feel he is a direct threat to you or anyone else, he’s dead,” Sam said determinedly.
“Fair enough,” Grant replied.
***
Barry called Grant at 6:30 a.m., just after arriving at his office and he immediately opened with, “Thurmond, where are we?”
“Sir, we already have our security folks deployed throughout the route and at the inauguration site. We have approximately a hundred fifty of our people in civilian clothes along the route and more than twice that around the bleachers and in the spectator area. We also have about three hundred more uniformed officers throughout the area. All are armed and have a photo of the suspect. We’re as ready as we can possibly be. But, he’s still out there.”
“Damn, I’m nervous. Are you sure he can’t possibly get through?” Barry barked.
Grant sounded calm when he replied, “No, sir, I’m not. There’s no way we can be sure. I just know that we’ve done all we can.”
“I’m sure you have . . . . I just hope it’s enough,” the DNI replied and then hung up without waiting for Grant to respond.
Yeah, me too, Grant thought.
Barry’s driver arrived at 11:00 a.m. to transport him to the ceremony. He planned to get to the bleachers at least twenty minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin so he could look around. Because of the overhanging threat, he was one of the few that would be parking directly behind the bleachers. The others were the current President; the President-elect; the Vice President and the Vice President-elect and their wives, who would all be in the same car; the Chief Justice; and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Six cars in total. He knew the Secret Service had set up an elaborate examination plan for every vehicle that would be within a hundred yards of the ceremony and, although he was on the cleared list, his car would have to be examined as well. That would take about ten minutes. He had plenty of time.
He said to his driver as he entered the car, “Good Morning, again. Looks like Matt isn’t going to make it? I know you said earlier he was still going to try to relieve you by mid-morning.”
Vladimir didn’t miss a beat. Standing with the back door open he said,“Yes, sir. I talked to him again about an hour ago. He was at the doctor—diarrhea. I didn’t want to hear the rest of it. Certainly was disappointed that he couldn’t drive you to the ceremony today. Said he had really been looking forward to it, but there was no way he could make it. I promised to call him tonight and give him all the details.” Vladimir smiled pleasantly.
Barry, wanting to make sure his driver knew the routine, looked up from his plush leather seat and said, “You know, we’ll have to go through two checkpoints. The first one is about a hundred yards from the bleachers and the next one, which is a more intense examination of the vehicle, is at the entrance to the parking area. I’ll get out when we get to the second security checkpoint and join you in the VIP parking area right after the ceremony.”
“Yes, sir. All the drivers received a thorough briefing yesterday morning. Matt gave me a complete update.” Vladimir continued smiling as he closed the door got into the driver’s seat. This was going very well.
The rest of the drive was made in silence. The DNI spent the time looking out the window with a brooding look on his face. Vladimir was only a little bit nervous as they approached the first checkpoint. The first check was made with both the driver and the DNI in the car. It was a brief conversation with the DNI to make sure he wasn’t under any duress and a visual check inside and outside the car. The Secret Service security agent asked the driver to pop the hood and then checked thoroughly in the engine compartment looking for anything out of the ordinary. Another agent had a mirror on a long pole she used to examine the undercarriage of the car. Yet another agent thoroughly checked the trunk. Less than five minutes later they were waved through.
At the second checkpoint, adjacent to the bleachers, the agents asked both the driver and the DNI to exit the car. The DNI walked over to the bleachers and started to look around. The search of the car was exhaustive. They combed over everything both inside and outside the car. Instead of a mirror on a pole, an agent was on his back on a mechanic’s slide and actually went under the car for a close-up look. If anything was amiss he would have seen it. But thanks to Vladimir’s careful work, it all looked normal and after fifteen minutes he was finally passed through to the parking area. Relief poured over Vladimir as he drove the car forward.
Vladimir realized he would have to spend some time mingling with the other drivers before he could slip away. He figured he only needed to get about seventy-five yards away to be safe. Then he’d just wait. Since the oath of office was to be broadcast on speakers all around the area, he could easily hear where he’d be waiting. He’d set it off right when the new President said the last word. He chuckled as he thought of the confusion in the aftermath. Who would be the new President? Nearly the whole immediate chain of succession would be wiped out—both the current and the newly elected. It would be months before the country settled down. In that time he would be well into his new identity and life. It would be good. In the old days, the Soviets might just have used the chaos to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike. The temptation would probably have been overwhelming. But, not today. Today, Russia was weak, corrupt and nearly bankrupt. Today, America, his new home, was the world power.
As planned, his car was the first to arrive. The next was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, followed by the Chief Justice. He watched them as they exited their cars and moved to the front of the bleachers. There were already several dignitaries in the bleachers, maybe a hundred or so, but they had parked somewhere else. The Vice President’s car arrived next and the four occupants moved to the front row of the bleachers. The President and President-elect arrived at exactly 11:55. They were each in a Presidential Limo which was completely armored, supposedly even protected from below. Fortunately, other cabinet member’s cars were just regular cars without protective shielding. Nothing more than tinted glass. The DNI’s included.
Vladimir figured that might change after today. He’d been hanging around the parked cars talking with the other five drivers for a while, then, just as the Presidential limo arrived, he said he needed a smoke and started walking away from the others. As he lit a cigarette, a Marlborough, a great American cigarette, no one paid him the least attention. All eyes were on the President as he approached the podium. Vladimir was standing, smoking his cigarette about twenty yards away. He started walking towards the capitol building at the same time President-elect Ted Mason stepped towards the podium.
In the meantime, Grant and Sam arrived at the bleachers at 10:30 and were watching everyone who approached within fifty yards. They especially watched everyone who was on, immediately in front of and immediately behind the bleachers. That included the drivers. He wasn’t particularly worried about the drivers. They’d all been through metal detectors and the body scanners, and they all checked out.
Sam, always a stickler for details, knew there were six cars authorized behind the bleachers and that number jibed. However, when she looked at the cluster of drivers, there were only five.
“Grant,” she whispered into her microphone, “There’s a driver missing!”
Grant immediately looked and saw she was right. He swung around and looked in the area adjacent to the bleachers, trying to pick out anyone in the dark uniform all the drivers wore. He scanned the area for a few seconds and about sixty yards towards the capital building saw what looked like one of the drivers walking swiftly away from the ceremony.
The Chief Justice held out his hand, on which was a bible.
Grant started running towards the rapidly walking driver. At the speed with which the driver was walking, Grant figured he could make up the time in about ten or eleven seconds.
“I, Theodore Roosevelt Mason, do solemnly swear,” the Chief Justice started.
“I, Theodore Roosevelt Mason, do solemnly swear,” the President-elect repeated.
Grant was closing the distance, but now he was worried about being detected. If this driver was the assassin, he could trigger a remote device any time. That had to be it. It was too late for him to be looking for a rifle or something else. It had to be explosives, but where? They had looked everywhere. It was obviously not a suicide bomb—the guy was walking away from the bleachers. Where the hell was it?
“. . . that I will faithfully execute,” the Chief Justice continued.
“. . . that I will faithfully execute,” the President-elect said.
Sam was following Grant, struggling to keep up. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to catch up with him, but she had to keep going. He might need her.
Grant was getting closer, but he wasn’t closing the gap as quickly as he’d like. Fortunately, the guy wasn’t looking backwards. He was probably trying not to look suspicious by looking around. There were a lot of people all over the place. Grant knew that if he sounded an alarm, all hell would break loose and the people currently just sitting, listening to the ceremony would start moving around and he would lose his quarry. It had to be Vladimir. It just had to be.
“. . . the Office of President of the United States,” said the Chief Justice.
“. . . the Office of President of the United States,” repeated the President-elect.
He was within twenty feet now and closing fast. Just a few more seconds to go. If he could just catch him before he set off the explosives . . . .
“ . . . and will, to the best of my ability,” continued the Chief Justice.
“ . . . and will, to the best of my ability,” followed the President-elect.
As he was running, Grant had another thought. What if the explosives were on a timer? What if he caught this guy only to have the explosives go off and kill everybody? Shit! Why do there have to be so many options?
“ . . . preserve, protect and defend . . .”
“ . . . preserve, protect and defend . . .”
Vladimir was walking fast and thinking, with one more phrase, the President will complete the oath, and as soon as he says the last word, I will trigger the bomb. It will be perfect. He removed the triggering device from his pocket. It had a flip-top covering the actual plunger and to avoid accidently setting off the explosion, he left it in place. He would flip it up the last second before pushing the plunger with his thumb.
At that moment, Grant leaped out and tackled the uniformed driver from behind. He was bigger than Grant had thought and much more muscled. Although surprised at the blow from behind, Vladimir recovered quickly. They wrestled on the ground for a few seconds, until the man touched and then pulled Grant’s new compact .45 out of his shoulder holster and held it under Grant’s chin. Without a word they stopped wrestling. The man stood up. As Vladimir pulled back the hammer and started to apply pressure to the trigger, Grant heard two sharp reports in rapid succession. Looking up at the man he knew only as Vladimir, Grant saw that he had a surprised look on his face. He also saw a red stain begin to spread on the front of the guy’s white shirt. The man, without changing expression, fell forward, landing partially on Grant.
Grant looked around and saw two people standing with guns drawn—Sam and just behind her to the right, Garcia. Not a double tap, then. Two individual shots. Somewhere off in the distance Grant heard,
“ . . . the constitution of the United States.”
“ . . . the constitution of the United States.”
And he knew the President was safe.